“I’m going to give you that one day. I promise.”
Chapter 31
Royal
6 years later
I keep River’s hand wrapped tightly in mine as we walk down the street. There’s no way in hell I’d let go of her around here. Six years ago, that was a different story, but this side of town has gone to shit. Prostitutes, drug dealers, and more homeless than there were before. This side of town wasn’t that great back then, but now it’s even worse.
“You remember that?” I ask, nodding toward the old warehouse we used to live in.
“I can’t believe they haven’t torn it down yet,” she says as we walk over and look through the busted windows.
“I know. It wasn’t great back then, but it’s worse now.”
“We had good times here,” she reminds me as I nod my head.
“Yeah, we did. Spent a lot of time in that old sleeping bag here,” I say. River laughs, and it’s like everything in the world is perfect. She’s perfect.
“Sometimes I miss that sleeping bag,” she admits.
“Really? I can buy you a new one.” She looks up at me and smiles, and that about melts me inside. I’d do anything for her to keep that smile on her face.
“We could go camping. We’ve never really camped.”
“We did that time at the homeless camp.”
“Not because we had a choice. I meant real camping.”
“You want to sleep outside?” I ask her.
“Not with all the bugs,” she laughs again. We keep walking and talking about what it was like back then. What we went through and how rough times got. We never gave up, though. And that’s why we’re here today.
“Fuck,” I mutter when we reach the old gym. They never figured out who killed Brent and Jim. Their murders went unsolved.
“Is it hard to be here?”
“They deserved what they got. It’s just weird, you know?”
“Yeah, I get it. That was your whole life back then,” she says.
“A long time ago.”
“Do you miss it?”
“Fighting? You know I do, but not like that. That part of my life is over.”
“It was a lot of your life.”
“Yeah, it was, but that’s behind us now. No use in looking back, right?” She smiles and nods her head as we make our way back to the car. I open her door and usher her inside before going around and climbing in myself.
I don’t look back as we take off down the road. I don’t look twice at anything we’re going past, either. This was my past. This isn’t who I am anymore. As much as I hated what happened back then, it’s what made me who I am today, and I wouldn’t change that for the world. If I weren’t here, none of this would have brought me to River. Yeah, I kidnapped her in the beginning, butshe always had the option to leave. I wouldn’t have forced her to stay, and I think she knew that.
We head across town, and I pull into the parking lot, killing the engine. Instead of getting out right away, I turn to look at River.
“You ever think we should leave this town?” I ask her. She glances over at me and shrugs.
“I don’t know. When my dad was still around, I thought about it, but now that he’s gone, I don’t think there’s a reason to. Do you?”
